Windmill.



No. 628,0". Patented July 4, i899.

P. 0. LUTNES.

WINDMILL.

(Application filed Feb. 24. 1898. 4N0 Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

Wiigcsscs N0. 628,0". Patented July 4, I899. P. 0. LUTNES.

WINDMILL.

(Application filed Feb. 24, 189B.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

UNrTED STATES PATENT FFIcE.

PETER O. LUTNES, OF W'AHPETON, NORTH DAKOTA.

WINDMILL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 628,011, dated my 4,1899.

Application filed February 24, 1898. Serial No. 671,463. (No model.)

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction ofwindmills, more especially the construction of wind-wheel shownand'described in Patent No. 527,866, granted me October 23, 1894, and toprovide simple, inexpensive, and efficient means for connecting,supporting,and bracing the Win gs or blades to form a light, strong, anddura ble wind-wheel.

A further object of the invention is to improve the construction of themeans employed for governing windmills and to provide a simple deviceadapted to turn the windmill automatically away from the Wind as theforce of the latter increases and to return it'similarly back to itsnormal position as the force of the wind abates, and thereby cause thewin dmill to run at a uniform speed.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination andarrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a windmillconstructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a central ver-.tical sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a similar view taken atright angles to Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail View illustrating the mannerof connecting the ends of the blades to the Wind-Wheel shaft. Fig. 5 isa detail view showing a modification of the gearing. Fig. 6 is detailsectional view illustrating the manner of mounting the bell-crank lever.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the draw.- lngs.

1 designates a horizontal wind-wheel shaft journaled in suitablebearings'of curved arms 2, which extend upward from a tubular-sh ank 3and which form a semicircular bracket or frame for supporting thewind-wheel shaft and the wind-Wheel. The tubular shank is journaled in avertical bearing-tube 4, and

the latter, which forms a turn-table, is jour- The wind-wheel consistsof three spirallyarranged wings pr blades 6,- disposed longi tudinallyof the wind-wheel shaft 1 and pro vided with tapering end portions whichare rigidly connected with the ends of the shaft; These wings or blades,which are designed to be constructed of thin sheet metal, may be of anydesired length and Width and are supported and strengthened bylongitudinal bracing bars 7, which are spirally curved to conform to theconfiguration of the blades and secured to one of the faces of each ofthem. The ends 8 of the longitudinal bracing-bars are curved and extendbeyond the wind-wheel shaft, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4 of theaccompanying drawings, and are connected together by bolts 9, forming asubstantially triangular frame and presenting convex faces to thewind-wheel shaft. The curved ends 8 possess sufficient resiliency tobind against the nuts of the bolts 9 and prevent them from accidentallyunscrewing.

The blades are supported at their centers by spokes 10, extending fromthe center of the wind-wheel shaft and disposed'at right angles to thesame, and the outer portions of the spokes extend across one of thefaces of each blade, the longitudinal brace 7 being on one face of thesame and the spoke being located on the other face thereof. The bladesare further supported by transverse bracingrods 11, arranged in the formof a triangle and secured to the centers of the blades by bolts 12,which pass through the spokes and the longitudinal bracing-bars 7 Thesetransverse bracing-rods, which extend around the horizontal wind-wheelshaft, maintain the blades in proper relation to each other and preventthem from spreading and becoming bent out of shape when subjected to aheavy wind. I r

The end portions of the blades are expanded or strained to the desiredtension by rods 13, which pass through perforations of the blades andthe bracing-bars '7 thereof and have their ends threaded and receivingnuts By rotating the nuts the blades may be strained to any desiredtension, and by this construction any looseness of the parts may becorrected.

The wind-wheel is maintained in the wind by a vane 15, extending outwardhorizontally from the outer tube or turn-table 4: and located at a pointbelow the curved arms 2, and in order to throw the wind-wheel out of thewind and expose less of the surfaces of the blades or wings when theforceof the wind increases a supplemental governing vane or blade 16 isfixed to the inner tube or shank 3 andis normally arranged at rightangles to the vane 15. The outer tube 4 is provided at its upper edgeswith opposite recesses 17, forming vertical walls or shoulders to limitthe rotation of the inner tube3 and providing horizontal, edges toreceive rollers 17 of brackets 18, which are substantially L-shaped andwhich are located at opposite sides of the inner tube 3. One of thebrackets 18 is provided with a horizontal extension 18 and has attachedto,ita coiled spring 29, which is connected with the vane 15 and isadapted to maintain the, same normally at right angles tothe windwheelfor holding the same intothe wind; but when the force of the windincreases and exceeds the power of the spring the vane is adapted toswing around to a position at right angles to its normal position, so asto hold the side of the wind-wheel to the wind, thereby stopping the,windmill. As soon as the force of the wind abates and becomes less thanthat of; the spring the latter will return the vane to, its normalposition and throw the windmill.

the spring, and the wind-wheel is turned more and it also passes througha swivel-joint 25 ofia rod25, entering the upper section of the orlessout of the wind, according to the power of the same, so that thewindmill operates at a uniform speed. The rollers of the brackets permitthe inner tube to move freely without firiction on the outer tube, andthe shoulders formed by the vertical walls of the recesses serve asstops and engage the rollers. The windmill is also adapted to becontrolled by hand, and a bell-crank lever 26 is fulcrumed by a screw 27on the lower portion of the outer tube, andonearm of the bell-ci-ank1everis. connected by a chain 28 with the inner tube, the other armhaving an operating wire or connection 29 attached to it. The screw 27is mounted in a threaded perforation of a band 30 and engages the outertube to secure theband to thesame. The lower end of the chain 28 islinked into an eye of a screw 31, which is mounted in a threadedperforation of aband 32 and operates as a clam ping-screw fol-securingthe band to the inner tube.

The wire 29 or other connection passes downward from, thebell-cranklever to a perforation 33,011 the lower end of the inner tube,

r od 25 at a point above the swivel-joint and passingout of the lowerend of the rod through oneside of the joint. Thelower section ofhorizontal, fulcrumed at one end on the tower of the windmill and havingits other end shaped into a handle. When the handle end of theoperating-lever is drawn downward, the bell-crank lever is operated tothrow the windmill out of the wind by rotating the inner and outer tubeson each other, and the handle end of the lever is maintained in adepressed position by engaging it with a catch 35, consisting,preferably, of a book; but any other suitable device may be employed,as.

will be readily understood. At a point between its ends the wire 29 isprovided with a swiveled joint 36 to prevent its becoming twistedthrough the rotation of the windmill on the tower.

The horizontal wind-wheel shaft carriesa sprocket-pinion 19, which isconnected with a sprocket wheel or pinion 2O by'a sprocket 2L, and thewheel or pinion 20 is provided with a wrist or crank pin andis connectedby a pitman 22 with one end of a lever 23. The lever 23, which isfulcrum ed between its ends on a depending arm 24 of the bracket orsupport of the wind-wheel, has itsinner end connected with avertically-reciprocating pnmprod 25, which is housed within the innertube;

but the sprocket-gearing, which is located at one end of the wind-wheelshaft, may be connected by bevel-gearin g with a vertical shaft, asillustrated in Fig. 3. of the accompanying drawings, when it is desiredto providea r0.- tary motion for operating devices other than a pump.

The invention has the followin gadvantages: Thewindmill is simple andcomparativelyinexpensive in construction, it is adapted to af: ford amaximum power for a given diameter of wind-wheel, and the, blades arefirmly braced and supported, so that they maybe constructed of lightmaterial and-be made the desired size to obtain the necessary powerwithout liability of the windmill being in; j ured by high winds. Thedevice for governing the windmill is simple and inexpensive inconstruction and positive and reliableand automatic in its operation, andit is not liable tobecome broken or otherwise get out, of

order.

Changes in the form, proportion, and minor details of construction maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit or saorific ling any ofthe advantages of this invention.

What I claim isa horizontal wind-wheel shaft, the spirallytwisted bladesdisposed longitudinally of said lshaft, and the longitudinal;bracing-bars se- 1. In a windmill, a wind-wheel comprising cured to andconforming to the configuration of the blades, and having their endsextended beyond the shaft and forming substantially triangular framesreceiving the ends of the shaft, substantially as and "for the purposedescribed.

2. In a windmill, a wind-wheel comprising a horizontal wind-wheel shaft,a series of spirally-twisted blades disposed longitudinally of theshaft, and the longitudinal bracingbars secured to the blades and havingtheir ends curved and extended beyond the shaft and connected by bolts,said curved ends presenting convex faces to the shaft and beingresilient, whereby the nuts of the bolts are locked against accidentalunscrewing, substantially as described.

3. In a windmill, the combination of a horizontal wind-wheel shaft, aseries of spirallytwisted blades arranged around the shaft, secured attheir ends to the same and provided with longitudinal bracing-bars,spokes extending from the shaft at right angles to the same andconnected with the blades at an intermediate point thereof, thetransverse braces extending around the shaft and conneoted with theblades, and the tension-rods 13 arranged independently of the braces andconnecting the blades, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. In a windmill, a wind-wheel comprising a wind-wheel shaft, a seriesof spirally-twisted blades disposed longitudinally of the shaft, and thecurved extensions projecting from the ends of the blades beyond theshaft, and connected by bolts, said curved extensions presenting convexfaces to the shaft and being resilient, whereby the bolts are lockedagainst accidental unscrewing, substantially as described.

5. In a windmill, the combination of a frame or tower, an outer tube orturn-table mounted thereon and provided with recesses, an inner tubemounted on the outer tube and provided with rollers arranged in the saidrecesses, a

wind-wheel supported by the inner tube, a vane connected with the outertube, and a coiled spring connecting the tubes, substan= tially asdescribed.

6. Inawindmill,the combination of an outer tube provided with recesses,brackets, an in ner tube carrying the brackets, rollers journaled in thebrackets and arranged in the recesses, a vane mounted on the outer tube,a wind-wheel carried by the inner tube, and a coiled spring connectedwith the vane and one of the brackets,substantially as described.

7. Inawindmill,the combination of an outer tube, an inner tube adaptedto rotate partially on the outer tube, a wind-wheel carried by the innertube, avane mounted on the outer tube, a supplemental vane carried bythe inner tube and arranged at right angles to the said vane, and acoiled spring connecting the inner and outer tubes, substantially asdescribed.

8. In a Wind mill,the combination of a tower, the inner and outer tubesmounted on the tower and adapted to rotate on each other, the inner tubebeing extended below the outer tube and provided with a guide, awind-wheel mounted on the inner tube, a vane connected with the outertube, a bell-crank lever fulcrumed between its ends on the outertube, achain passing partly around the inner tube and connected with the sameand with one end of the bell-crank lever, a flexible connection attachedto the other arm of the bellcrank lever and passing downward through thesaid guide, and operating mechanism ar-' ranged at the lower end of theflexible connection, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

PETER O. LUTNES.

WVitnesses:

JOHN SHIPPAM, GEORGE OLAUsEN.

